The Advent candles need a bobeche ...

 I love candles at home, especially with meals for friends etc when we chat late in to the night & the candles burn low & no one wants to move. 

However, so many candles seem to drip wax that runs down the candlestick & on to the tablecloth where it almost impossible to remove. 

Some of my candle holders have glass wax catchers / bobeche that gets around this problem but many do not. The Advent ring, although brass, is prone to having the candles drip so I had a thought to get around this issue. 

The idea comes from my teaching time when students would make Christingles & carry them to a local church for the service. They were lit when they got to church & to stop the hot wax dripping on them, a paper round was used to catch the wax. 

While out dropping off surplus Christmas things at local charity shops (yes, I am still on a mission to reduce my Christmas stash) I spied some sheet music & had an inspiring thought. It would be easy & pretty to make paper wax catchers from sheet music. 

I duly purchased 3 lots at 20p each; a perfect find. 

I used a glass to draw a circle for each one - 4 for the Advent wreath & one for the centre candle. 

After cutting out the circles, I made 6-8 small snips to the centre large enough for the candle to go through. 

I did a gold border on each circle with a sharpie pen before easing it over the candles so it rests on the candle holder. 

They look pretty as well as being functional & that is a great way to protect the table cloths from drips. 

I hope this inspires you to do something similar - it is a quick but satisfying make that only took a few minutes. You could use pretty Christmas cards to do this too. 

Thank you for stopping by at this busy time, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🕯️📖🎵🎶

Looking more festive …

 

 

A message on the local ‘kindness’ group last week spurred me into action: Decorations needed for a local care home looking after dementia residents. 

I have had it on my mind to declutter sort through the accumulation of years of Christmas decorations & this was the nudge I needed ahead of doing my own tree. 

I have kept the last few years ones in the garage but in previous years the packed boxes went in the loft. Out of sight but also not easy to access in midwinter when it is really cold up there. When the girls were at uni or working away, it was easier to grab new decorations rather than haul boxes down the ladder from the loft so the things that went up didn’t always come down. 

However, the wanted / needed request spurred us to bring down the loft decorations. We put them in the hallway & I checked in what was needed. ‘Wreaths, garlands, decorations, anything’ was the reply & so I checked through the containers, taking out just a few bits, then they were collected for the care home. 

What a relief to have sorted it out & so relieved that they were going to a good home. 

The conservatory sideboard was changed as the family were stopping by & Advent Sunday was upon us. Old favourites that will be well used over the festive season, many of them gifts over the years & they are on hand to enjoy a mince pie or treat on a nice plate without digging around for them. The sideboard works well for us at home. 

A really wet day today nudged me to bring the tree in from the garage & do the living room tree. I decided that white, rose & old gold decoration combination will prevail again. 

I tested the lights (we have all had the failed light experience) wound them on then set to decorate while catching up on recorded programmes. 

Some additional ones had come down with the loft stash like the ‘peace, joy, Noel’ ones & some delicate angels. The tree nestles in the corner next to the clocks & is a joy in the dark nights.

Our inglenook fireplace gets a large garland that only just stretches between the 2 hooks. 

It had graced the smaller fireplace at previous house where it draped over it but it is fortunately just right here. 

Lights adjusted & plugged in, it’s twinkly lights matching that of the tree. 

Baking is part of my Christmas preparations. 

 I like to put out some of the cookie cutters on the windowsill, alongside the glass candleholders; the plug in lights that stay up all year round are especially pretty in the winter when the candle holders come from various corners of the house to rest on the window sill. 

It is very handy to have candles readily available for when they are needed or when you want to  have one burning while you cook. 

I love passing on the joy of making something imperfect for the festive season. 

I am not yet sure what the festive baking will be - I looked at the long list of ingredients on some of the mince pies & they put me off. 

I know commercial baking is different but I prefer something without all the additives. 

I think mince pies will be on my baking list - any good suggestions are welcome. 

Still things to do about the house ahead of the festive season but I enjoy preparing the space, as my parents did for us growing up. 

Do you also like to take your time with festive preparations so you can enjoy them & the cosy feel at home? 

With various meet ups with friends at local pubs & coffee shops ahead of Christmas, I feel more organised with the major things done. 

What is your strategy for the festive season? When do you get started? Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated, 

Dee 🎄⛪️🕯️

The first Sunday of Advent slips in quietly as HOPE

Some things arrive quietly, almost unnoticed but not insignificant.  Advent is one such thing, a reminder that we have but 4 Sundays to Christmas.

For many, the frenetic season of excess is in full swing but Advent brings a reminder to just pause, take stock & remind yourself that commercialism can be sidestepped, it is optional. 

I struggle with the excesses of the season, the idea that more is more in everything from gifts to food. 

I am from a generation where life was simpler in Africa; slower, no 24 hour shops or round the clock tv.  That is how I like the season - authentic, simpler but still meaningful. 

I grew up attending Sunday school & church, singing in the choir. I know all the words & the rituals that ground me & consider myself spiritual. It is very personal, I find my peace in quiet places & in still Abbey ruins locally. 

However, I do return to carols & observing rituals at Christmas, it anchors one in the collective observances. 

My Mothers paternal grandfather was German / Prussian & she instinctively observed some of the traditions from her Father who still carried some of the Teutonic ways of his ancestors. 

My Mother used to travel across Johannesburg to a specialist deli shop to purchase Advent calendars for my daughters long before they were mainstream. 

These were imported but she loved this ritual of giving them to the girls & enjoying their pleasure in opening the windows that all had religious symbols on them. 

Years ago, I bought fabric 'East of India' ones that I filled with small chocolates I purchased for the daughters; the little pockets means you have to be mindful of what will fit in. It was always the start of the season for me, the calendars filled & delivered to university residences & homes where the daughters were.

These fabric calendars were filled & passed to the grandchildren this weekend ahead of Advent. 

It is more personal selecting chocolates to fill each year than just a shop bought one. 

Today, I added greenery to my Advent ring from our garden, a few sprigs of holly from our little bush, some ivy & the starlike flower stems from the fatsia japonica. 

The first of the 4 candles will be lit as the sun fades today. Each week it will join the next until they all burn on the last Sunday. I have opted for creamy white & gold candles this year.

                     The first candle is for HOPE 

Today, pause & take stock of how you want the festive season to be & don't forget to add in some thankfulness too. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated 

Dee 🕯️🎄✝️⛪️

Some festive sewing at last ...

 It is almost December, the last of our 'ber' months & the pace of things is picking up. You know how things suddenly speed up, the lists & jobs stack up quickly?  

I do love to do some hand sewn things to go with friends cards or something for my home. 

This was beaded Christmas trees I did previously, some very blingy, some plainer for little fingers. 

Last years ones were lovely too & I also did some little Christmas stockings to pop in to cards & they were well received. 

This year, it has been one of those times when it doesn't always go to plan & the thoughts don't translate to something you like. 

It was like that with my robins, I had high hopes for them & used a stencil I had ordered to cut around & for the wings. I just don't love them.

 I might have time to have another go, any suggestions to get me on my way with the robins?  

However, I saw some of the most beautiful green fabric at a local haberdashery shop I frequent & do courses at. I immediately knew it was right for some bauble decorations for cards. 

I drew the round shape on felt then cut out the whole circle in the fabric. I do like to add a bit of bead bling but not too much or the cards will be too bulky in the post. 

I did some trees on some with beads (they will be hand delivered) and then added some beads on the 'wave' of the pattern on others.  The fabric is just gorgeous as a bauble so they do not need too much I think to look charming. 

They were backed with a pale green felt & handstitched with a blanket stitch to finish them off. 

I recently bought these stitching markers (seen above) that you put your thumb in to get your stitches even & I thought it time to use them. They were tricky to use on curves & over beads but they do make you aware of keeping stitches more even. I will have another go on other things in time. 

I had a small fat quarter of special London landmarks fabric I bought from an ebay seller connected to the British Museum & I had it in my mind to do baubles for family with connections to specific parts of London. 

Cookie cutters are fabulous things for sewing & I used a large & medium elongated bauble shape to trace around for these. 

 Because the printed fabric was thin, I mistakenly thought once it was against the dark blue felt it would sew fine - it wasn't! 

The threads puckered & pulled & it had to be cut loose. I was annoyed at myself for cutting corners & not adding a fabric stabiliser. 

The first one had to be unpicked because I didn't have a second piece of fabric with the landmarks I needed. I ironed stabiliser on each shape, then backed it with blue felt before it was  resewn. It worked fine the second time.  I sewed a dark blue thin cord to the top of each one as it was machine stitched. I am pleased with the four I completed & they are special family gifts. 

I have seen several Instagram  sewers who do house shaped decorations, some working from a photo of your house. So original I thought ...  

 I had a thought to do one as a gift for a recent house move.  

I am not good at drawing buildings but did several pencil drawings until I was happy that it looked like their real house, traced over with a dark pen, then traced it on to white felt with a light box. 

The ones I had seen online are sewn free motion but my test one put paid to that idea & I did it with normal machine settings, needle in & turning at all the corners, windows etc. I handstitched in just a few details & made the name plate with the lettering on my Brother sewing machine. 

I am ok with the end result, it is another one of those things that looks so much easier when others do it but they have practised on hundreds of ones over time. 

A start with some festive sewing.  I do need to make a few more for friends I am meeting with in the next few weeks. 

Do you do anything that you send on with a card? Tell all ... Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🎄🕯️

Remembering the war poet Wilfred Owen

 

I blogged about South Africa's connection to the 2 minute silence held on Armistice day / Remembrance Sunday. It is accepted that it was initiated by Sir Percy FitzPatrick after the loss of his son. 

Another connection to South Africa is that of John Mccrae who penned the moving poem, In Flanders Fields.  He served as a medic in the Boer War of 1899-1902 in South Africa. 

One of the many famous names to have served for the British side - Churchill, Gandhi, Kipling, Conan Doyle, Lord Kitchener, Chamberlain, Baden Powell etc.

Some of the foreign supporters of the Boers included Count Zeppelin, Cornelius van Gogh (brother of Vincent), Piet Modrian's younger brother Frederik, Giuseppe Garibaldi's grandson Peppino etc. 

A war poet I have come to appreciate is Wilfred Owen because he is Shropshire born & commemorated in our county. His poetry is raw,  war is not celebrated like some other WW1 war poets speaking of 'the glorious dead' ethos of Robert Brooke etc. Owen's 'Anthem for Doomed Youth' says it as it was.

Wilfred Owen was born in 1893 in Oswestry, educated in Shrewsbury where he lived & studied afterwards. He enlisted in October 1915 & was sent out to France.  In 1917, he was injured by a trench mortar shell & treated in Edinburgh for injuries & for shell shock too. It was there that he met & was befriended by the celebrated war poet Siegfried Sassoon who read Owen's poems & encouraged him to write them down. 

Owen returned to the Western Front line in October 1918, he was killed on 4th November 1918, a week before the Armistice that ended the terrible war. His story is well documented, and his mother received the telegram of his death on Armistice day as the bells were ringing out over Shrewsbury. What feelings of despair she must have had with the war ending & him not coming back. 

I have studied his poetry with my older students & it does not try to gloss over the reality of war. 

This week, with Remembrance Sunday & Armistice Day just past, I visited our county town of Shrewsbury & stopped by The Abbey to view their magnificent poppy display. 

In the entrance to The Abbey, a board remembers the Shrewsbury fallen, amongst them Wilfred Owen, his name where the red poppy is on the right. 

I did not know of the memorial in the Abbey grounds but was directed there by Abbey helpers. It is appropriate that it shows how brief his life was, some of his words on the memorial in a setting he would have known as he taught at the nearby school. 

The futility of war brought in to focus again each year; the county & country making sure they are never forgotten. 

Thank you for stopping by & reading this account. Have you read any of his poetry or do you find war poetry a bit dark? 

Dee ⛪️🔔📚📓📖

Autumn beauty along the canals ...

Our county is blessed with the Shropshire Union Canal that gently crosses it at various points. It is one of my favourite pastimes to wander along these often hidden spaces that wind through some deep cuttings before passing houses, fields with animals or towns on their watery way. 

With the most beautiful Autumn colours deepening this year, I suggested a walk along a strip I have visited many times.

Tyrley Locks is a pretty walk along the canals where 5 locks drop or raise boats on their journey. 

What makes this walk special is the deep cutting with interesting rocks & soil that is exposed by digging out the canal. It was muddy underfoot because of some recent rain but our sturdy walking boots did well. 

The autumn colours did not disappoint with a thick carpet of leaves underfoot & more falling gently all the time on our walk. There is a sense of calm, of peace, of clearing your mind when out in nature. This is important time for me, to just be ...  

A very elegant grey heron appeared several times along the canals, staying on the side furthest from us while being cautious & curious. 

A passing canalboat was glad of the offer of help with the final lock so hubby helped with the lock gates to lower the boat on its way to Nantwich. 

We enjoyed a chat with the boating couple & their gorgeous dog. 

We had spent a week on a canal boat a few years ago with Ms M & her family so had an idea how to work the gates etc. 

On returning to the canal bridge at the basin by the top lock, I noticed a cottage for sale. However, the voice of reason did not join in my enthusiasm. 

I wonder what it would be like living right next to a canal & having a prime seat on canal life? 

Would it be cold in winter & busy in summer when boat hire is at its peak or would the fascination be the key to enjoying it? 

I won't know but it is nice to think about it. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated.

Dee ⛴️🪾🌳🍁🍂

Murder before Evensong in Worfield

 A new TV production called 'Murder before Evensong'  was filmed locally in Shropshire & an unexpected free morning made us decide to head out to the village again. 

I have been watching it because I recognise so many of the locations locally like the boathouse at nearby Dudmaston Hall, the timbered buildings of Worfield, also Chillington Hall. 

I have been previously to Worfield, it is just a tiny village that retains its charm through the black & white buildings & a church that towers over it. 

An unexpected free morning saw us head out on my suggestion. We parked up to walk the street that features in the filming. It is chocolate box pretty, the houses all well maintained & it looks like a filmset. There are several listed buildings in the village.  

We had not previously visited St Peter's church because we visited on a Sunday when a service was in progress so today we took full advantage to do so. 

The church steeple towers over the church, a landmark as you drive in. The ancient yew trees in an avenue in the church yard. 

The church features in all the episodes & the first murder was committed in there in the series. 

What a fantastic space - much bigger than it appears from outside, a haven of calm (incongruous with its tv fame) .

I always light a candle & lit two today as a friend needs a prayer for her hubby in America who is ill. It is those quiet moments in churches that connect you again. This side chapel is St Nicholas - I am rather partial to that name as it was one of my late Father's names. 

I am fascinated by the history in these places - people remembered across the centuries, tombstones in the aisle floor where they are buried underneath, two magnificent memorials to the side & more. 

It has a leper window or hagioscope that is now on an inside wall - it would have been on the outside wall previously so lepers could follow the service without being a danger to others. 

The incumbent priests husband popped in & what a fascinating long chat we had. We got some history as well as an update on the filming. 

The font used in the production was a replica of the one seen, it was placed in the middle aisle where the first murder takes place. 

Spoiler alert - there is no crypt under the font!  

The font near the door was replicated & placed over this grid in the aisle, which supposedly had a crypt under it. 

The production team spent several weeks in the village & they 'might' be back.  

The village shop & pub also feature regularly & it is interesting to stroll along a 'real' film set. 

Viewing figures drive this but apparently the series has been well received to we can but hope. 

We asked about some of the memorials & were directed outside & then to the higher graves high above the church in the pretty elevated woods. 

Apparently this high area was used for the plague burials centuries ago - there is no marker as there was to the plague pits I saw at Ross-on-Wye. The reality was that most villages had plague pits & the exact location of many of them is lost in time. 

Apparently, the large yew tree by the gate is the place where infant death babies of unwed mothers were buried in times past; in the church grounds but not close to the church as social norms were at the time.

A fascinating morning enjoying our Shropshire villages & the history of them, as well as the modern influence of TV series which helps to preserve churches as the production money all helps. 

I hope you have enjoyed this morning wander with me, thank you for stopping by, 

Dee ⛪️🔔📽️🎬